An Indiana teen is earning her college degree before getting her high school diploma, which disproves the third-grade teacher who said she was unable to handle a normal course load.
“I have had my goals and I achieved them,” Raven Osborne, an 18-year-old senior at 21st Century Charter High School in Gary, Ind., told ABC 7.
Osborne graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Purdue University Northwest Friday, May 5, two weeks before she’s graduating from high school on May 22.
The teen began taking a series of courses at Purdue as a high school freshman, which made Osborne’s accomplishment possible.
“Being that I was still in high school, I still had the support of my teachers and if I ever need any help with my math work or anything, I knew I could go to them,” she says.
As a graduation requirement, all students at 21 Century must take one college course, but Osborne went above and beyond, disregarding anyone who made fun of her.
“Focus is very important and sometimes it’s easy to lose that focus because people tell you you’re not normal and things like that,” she says. “But I hope that everyone would just ignore those comments and just keep your eyes on your goals.”
The college graduate thanked Purdue Northwest, her high school teachers and her mother, Hazel Osborne, for their support. Hazel Osborne explained that her daughter’s interest in studying began at an early age.
“From a very, very early she would study the Bible, and look for and delve into the Bible, and look for answers to introspective questions,” she says. “And so, that gave her an idea of how to study and actually go beyond what is written.”
“When she had questions, we tried to accommodate her with our answers,”, PNW Chancellor Wes Lukrosas says. “But she did the work and she earned it.”
Osborne will return to 21 Century Charter in the fall as an early education instructor earning nearly $40,000 yearly.
